Google paused its development in Nashville because numerous utility poles needed for lines were already being used by AT&T, Comcast and the Nashville Electric Service.
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With the Nashville city council yesterday voting yes on Google Fiber’s plan to streamline utility pole attachment in the city, Google Fiber lawyers are gearing up for an expected lawsuit by AT&T.
The ordinance passed unanimously during Tuesday night’s city council meeting.
The ordinance now heads to Mayor Megan Barry, who said she plans to sign it into law, The Tennessean reported last night.
“Unfortunately, the likelihood of protracted litigation could delay implementation of this law created to benefit Nashville’s consumers”, Mayor Barry noted.
In a blog posted earlier this month, Chris Levendos, director of national deployment and operations at Google Fiber, outlined the reasons behind Google Fiber’s “incredibly slow progress” there, claiming that that of the 88,000 poles required to attach Google Fiber for its rollout, more than 44,000 will require make ready work, but just 33 of them have been made ready. The company has already sued the city of Louisville, Kentucky, over a similar ordinance.
The issue led to a fight between the three companies vying for shares of the Nashville – each of them well-resourced and employing influential lobbyists.
All told, incumbent ISPs like AT&T and Comcast likely know full well these lawsuits won’t succeed in stopping Google Fiber, but they certainly benefit from stalling Google Fiber’s deployments, allowing them to lock down customers in long term contracts ahead of time. Congratulations to Nashville Metro Council and residents on passing Council Member Davis’ One Touch Make Ready ordinance on its third and final reading.
Supporters of Google Fiber say the service will allow more competition against existing providers Comcast and AT&T, which have both opposed the measure. “We look forward to continuing our work with NES and the local community”, Levandos wrote.
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AT&T and Comcast have been critical of the ordinance, saying that it would cause safety and potential outages.
